The present invention relates to a flexible hood for convertible motor vehicles, which is movable between an extended position in which it covers the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle, and a folded, non-covering position in which it is housed in a compartment of the motor vehicle, the flexible hood comprising:
a pivoted framework including a rear arch articulated at its ends to the motor-vehicle body,
a flexible fabric cover associated with the framework and connected at its rear edge to the arch, the compartment having a rigid lid for closing it both when the hood is folded in the compartment and when the hood is extended and the compartment is empty; the rigid lid being articulated at its rear edge to the motor-vehicle body and having a recess at each end of its front edge for avoiding interference between the lid and the end portions of the rear arch when the latter is pivoted to fold or unfold the hood while the lid is closed.
When a known hood of the type indicated is in its extended position, the rear arch, to whose central portion the rear end of the fabric is fixed, lies in a substantially horizontal position above the lid which closes the compartment. Only those portions of the arch adjacent its ends articulated to the motor-vehicle body lie beneath the plane of the lid in correspondence with the two recesses. In fact the side portions of the arch each take the form of an "S" of which the two end portions are arranged parallel to the lid, one above and the other beneath the latter, whilst the central portion is in a transverse position passing through the plane of the lid in correspondence with one of the recesses.
When the hood is to be folded, it is first of all necessary to raise the rear arch into a vertical position, releasing it from the lid which can thus in turn be raised into a vertical position, pivoting about its rear edge. The fabric cover and the framework of the hood are then folded into the compartment which is now open and finally the lid is closed, returning to the horizontal position.
In this position, the lid is exposed to the outside and the recesses in the ends of its front edge are therefore rather unattractive in appearance.
In order to avoid this problem, the present invention provides a hood of the type indicated above, characterised in that it includes an element for covering each recess in the rigid lid when the latter is closed, the covering element being movable between an extended position in which it covers the recess, and which it assumes when the hood is folded in the compartment, and a folded position in which the recess is at least partly uncovered and which it assumes when the hood is extended.